Railway car center plate



July I, 1969 Filed Sept. 22, 1966 |Q.B.L)VE

RAILWAY CAR CENTER PLATE United States Patent 3,452,686 RAILWAY CARCENTER PLATE Robert B. Love, Park Forest, Ill., assignor to AmstedIndustries Incorporated, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of New JerseyFiled Sept. 22, 1966, Ser. No. 581,375 Int. Cl. B61d 17/00 US. Cl.105-420 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates torailway car underframes and more particularly to a new and improved bodycenter plate construction, particularly suitable for use with cushionunderframes having sliding center sills.

Because the distance outboard from bolster centers to strikers on manyrailroad cars is relatively short, the installation of energy absorbingarrangements in these areas has not been feasible. This has lead to thedevelopment of cushion underframes wherein a sliding sill extendslongitudinally through the car from coupler to coupler with an energyabsorbing device interposed therein. Supporting ribs between fixed sillsmust be removed, and space limitations necessitate a body center plateconstruction that will provide maximum support when the car is rocked ortilted and yet accommodate the sliding center sill and provide clearancefor draft lugs.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a body centerplate construction having maximum support characteristics within alimited area.

The above and other objects, which will become apparent to those skilledin the art, will appear hereafter in the specification and appendedclaims and in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a body center plate embodying the inventiondescribed herein;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view through section lines 22 of FIGURE 1,and shows the relation of the center plate to associated parts (shown inoutline) of a railway car;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view of the article shown in FIGURE 1,taken through section lines 3-3; and

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation view of the body center plate shown inFIGURE 1.

The improved center plate shown in the figures is a unitary compositestructure having a main box portion, generally indicated by 18, with asubstantially rectangular flat top wall 20 and an undulated bottom wallportion 22 defining a central annulus 24 for engagement with a matingtruck bolster center plate (not shown). As shown in FIG- URE 2, sidewalls 26 and 28 of box portion 18 slope downwardly and outwardly fromtop wall 20 to bottom wall 22 toward a line near the outer circumference30 of annulus 24. As shown in FIGURE 1, side walls 26 and 28 also slopelongitudinally inwardly from points on either side of the outercircumference 30 of annulus 24 toward their respective edges, therebyproviding clearance for the draft lugs 54 secured within a sliding sill53, one position of such a lug being indicated by dotted lines at 32(FIG.

1). The ends of side walls 26 and 28 also extend beyond the length ofrectangular top wall 20, and the upper edges 12 of said ends slopeoutwardly from the corresponding corners 13 of said top wall to thecorresponding lower corners 14 of said side walls.

A central vertical passage 27 for a king pin (not shown) through andbetween top wall 20 and bottom wall portion 22 is defined by an annularvertical wall 29 extending between said top and bottom walls, the topsection 15 of said annular wall being substantially cylindrical inshape, the central portion 16 thereof flaring outwardly, and the bottomportion thereof 17 flaring outwardly to a lesser degree than saidcentral portion, toward the bottom wall portion 22.

Extending outwardly from side walls 26 and 28, along the lengthsthereof, are integral lateral walls 34 and 36, the respective uppersurfaces thereof 35 and 37 having flat pads 39 located at opposite endsof said upper surfaces, which pads support the feet 54 of an invertedU-shaped sliding sill 53 (FIG. 2). Secured near the outer sideextremeties of lateral walls 34 and 36 are vertical wall supports 38 and40, which extend along the length of their respective lateral walls.Also extending upwardly from the outer side extremities of lateral walls34 and 36 are angularly disposed welding flanges 42 and 44, which alsoextend along the length of their respective lateral walls and have aplurality of spaced openings 45 formed therein for welding to respectivebody bolster cover plates 57 and 55 secured to fixed sills 51 and 58,respectively.

Bottom wall 22, lateral walls 34 and 36, welding flanges 42 and 44, andthe portions of side walls 26 and 28 extending beyond the extremities ofmain box portion 18 are supported by integral hollow transverse ribs 46and 48 secured underneath the composite structure, proximate its ends.Transverse ribs 46 and 48 are rectangular in cross section and extendbetween the lower portions of welding flanges 42 and 44. Extendingbetween respective transverse ribs 46 and 48, proximate the sides of thecomposite structure, are arcuate longitudinal support members 50 and 52,the ends thereof terminating beneath related pads 39 approximatelycentrally of said pads. A plurality of spaced transverse supporting armsor ribs 54 extend from arcuate support members 50 and 52 fromintermediate the ends thereof to their adjacent welding flange 42 or 44.The outer end portions of transverse ribs 46 and 48, transverse arms orribs 54 and the inner portions of welding flanges 42 and 44 formpedestals 60 and 62 for support of fixed sills 51 and 58. Pedestals 60and 62 provide an additional safety feature in that they will supportthe weight of the car in the event that the welding flanges 42 and 44break or the welds to body bolster cover plates 57 and 55 fail.

It may now be seen that the structural arrangement of the center platedescribed herein allows the transfer of forces from annulus 24 and mainbox portion 18 toward the outer periphery of the structure; hence,forces are transferred to transverse ribs 46 and 48 and arcuatelongitudinal support members 50 and 52, whereby the requisite supportduring rocking or tilting is attained within a limited space. Also, eachpad 39 is reinforced below the center thereof by one end of an arcuatesupport member 50 or 52 at its merger with a related transverse rib 46or 48.

It will also be understood that various changes in the details andarrangements of parts, which have been herein described and illustratedin order to explain the nature of the invention may be made by thoseskilled in the art.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A railway car body center plate of unitary composite structurecomprising a bottom wall having an annulus for engagement with a matingtruck bolster center plate, a top wall, and a pair of spaced side wallscontinuously interconnecting said top wall and said bottom wall alongsubstantially their entire length, said side walls each slopingoutwardly from said top wall to said bottom wall toward the outercircumference of said annulus.

2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said center plate has acentral vertical passage comprising a central annular inner wall betweensaid top wall and said bottom wall, the lower section of said inner wallbeing flared outwardly.

3. The invention according to claim 1 wherein lateral walls extend fromsaid side walls and include means at the extremeties thereof forattachment to a car underframe.

4. The invention according to claim 3 wherein transverse support ribsare secured across said bottom wall and said lateral walls on theunderside of said structure, proximate the ends thereof.

5. The invention according to claim 3 wherein an arcuate longitudinalsupport member is secured beneath each lateral wall and interconnectssaid transverse support ribs.

6. The invention according to claim 3 wherein said means for attachmentto a car underframe comprise vertical support walls and angularlydisposed welding flanges extending from the extremities of said lateralwalls.

7. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said side walls slopelongitudinally inwardly from points outside the outer circumference ofsaid annulus.

8. In combination with a railway cushioned underframe wherein a centerU-shaped sill member is detached and permitted to drive longitudinallyin either direction while sliding on the body center plate, theimprovement in center plate construction which comprises a unitarycomposite structure having a top wall of substantially rectangularshape, a bottom undulated wall defining a central annulus for engagementwith a mating truck bolster center plate, side walls sloping outwardlyfrom said top wall to said bottom wall toward a line outside the outercircumference of said annulus, said side walls sloping longitudinallyinwardly from points outside the outer circumference of said annulus andextending beyond the ends of said top wall, lateral walls extending fromsaid side walls and comprising support means for a sliding sill,vertical support walls at the outer sides of said 10. The improvedcenter plate'construction of claim 9 wherein said welding flanges havespaced openings therein and wherein the central section of said annularpassage is flared outwardly to 'a greater degree than the bottom sectionthereof.

11. The improved center plate construction of claim 8 wherein saidarcuate longitudinal support member has transverse arms extendingtherefrom to said welding flanges.

12. The improved center plate construction of claim 8 wherein eachsupport means is reinforced approximately centrally thereof by one endof one arcuate longitudinal member at its merger with one of saidtransverse ribs.

13. A railway car body center plate comprising a top wall, a bottom wallfor support upon an associated railway car truck bolster, holesextending through said walls for reception of an associated king pin,lateral walls each having pads at its opposite ends to support anassociated sliding center sill, spaced transverse ribs connecting thebottom wall to both lateral walls, and a longitudinal support memberconnected to the bottom of each lateral wall and connected at oppositeends of said support member with respective ribs beneath the relatedsupport pads approximately centrally thereof.

14. In combination with a railway cushioned underframe wherein a centerU-shaped sill member is detached and permitted to drive longitudinallyin either direction I while sliding on the body center plate, theimprovement lateral walls extending along the length of said lateralwalls, welding flanges disposed outwardly and upwardly along the lengthof said lateral walls, a transverse rib supporting the underside of thecomposite structure at each end thereof, and .an arcuate longitudinalmember extending between said transverse ribs supporting the undersideof the composite structure at each side thereof.

9. The improved center plate construction of claim 8 wherein thecomposite structure includes a central passage therethrough, an annularinner wall between said top and bottom walls defining said passage, saidannular wall being cylindrical at its upper section and flared outwardlyat its lower section.

in center plate construction which comprises a unitary compositestructure having a top wall of substantially rectangular shape, a bottomundulated wall defining a central annulus for engagement with a matingtruck bolster center plate, side walls sloping outwardly from said topwall to said bottom wall toward a line outside the outer circumferenceof said annulus, lateral walls extending from said side walls andcomprising support means for said sliding sill member, substantiallyvertical support walls at the outer sides of said lateral wallsextending along the length of said lateral walls, attachment flangesdisposed outwardly and upwardly along the length of said substantiallyvertical support walls, a transverse rib supporting the compositestructure at each end thereof, and an arcuate longitudinal memberextending between said transverse ribs supporting the underside of thebottom wall of the composite structure at each side thereof outwardly ofsaid annulus.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,003,341 6/1935 Campbell 213-572,309,024 1/1943 Tesseyman et al 213-57 2,355,524 8/ 1944 Garloek et a1420 2,646,010 7/ 1953 Nystrom 105-420 3,354,846 11/1967 Travilka et al21357 2,271,608 2/1942 Simonson 213-57 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, PrimaryExaminer.

R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner.

